NBA midseason awards

As of this morning, 17 of the league’s 30 teams had played 40 or 41 games, which puts us very close to the statistical midpoint of the season.

It’s one of the benchmark Sundays of the season, with enough empirical data to evaluate the individuals who have put themselves in the lead for the postseason awards. Based on the first half of the season, the media voters who receive official ballots at season’s end are going to have easier choices than in recent years.

Rookie of the Year, for example, may be the easiest choice since Tim Duncan was a unanimous pick in 1997.

On the other hand, Most Valuable Player is shaping up as one of the more difficult decisions in recent years, but we’ll examine that most coveted of awards in Wednesday’s column.

Here’s our list of the midseason’s best:

Rookie
Blake Griffin, Clippers
Stats: 22.0 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 52.0 FG
Rundown: This was supposed to be a two-man race between the No. 1 overall selections from the last two seasons. Griffin, eligible for this season’s award because an injury wiped out his entire first season, has been so spectacular, he would be the winner even if John Wall had not suffered injuries that have kept him out of 13 of the Wizards’ first 38 games. Griffin’s combination of athleticism, power and skill make him one of the game’s most feared big men. There have been other good rookie stories, including those of Knicks second-rounder Landry Fields and the Spurs’ undrafted rookie, Gary Neal. But Griffin is the easy choice, and if he ever develops a perimeter game, he will become an MVP candidate.

Most improved
Kevin Love, Timberwolves
Stats: 21.5 PPG, 15.7 RPG, 45.4 3PT
Rundown: We have a bias against voting for high draft picks for this award, but for Love, we’re making an exception. It’s not only the fact that Love is on track to have the highest per-game rebounding average since Dennis Rodman yanked down 16.1 per game in 1996-97, or that his scoring average is up by 7.5 points per game. It’s the fact he worked hard in the offseason to develop a 3-point game that has made him a more dangerous offensive player and augmented his natural skills as a rebounder. By making 45.4 percent of his long-range shots, he pulls defenders away from the basket whenever he is outside the paint. That makes it easier for him to get to the basket in position to rebound whenever a shot goes up.

Sixth man
Glen Davis, Celtics
Stats: 12.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 45.8 FG
Rundown: This is one of the more difficult award choices because the criteria for evaluating a sixth man varies voter to voter. Is it someone who changes games? Is it a starter asked to play a reserve role for the good of the team, as Manu Ginobili did when he won the award? Or is it, in Davis’ case, a key reserve who does a good job filling in for a key starter during an injury. Davis has helped the Celtics minimize the damage during the injury absence of Kevin Garnett, and that gives him a small nod over Atlanta’s Jamal Crawford. This is one award where the Spurs have a candidate, but it’s hard to determine which bench player has been their most impactful among George Hill, Neal and Matt Bonner.

Defender
Dwight Howard, Magic
Stats: 13.4 RPG, 2.3 BPG
Rundown: Another award that defies quantification and relies on subjective opinion. Howard ranks fourth in blocked shots and second in rebounding and is clearly one of the most disruptive interior defenders in the game. Is he any more important defensively than a disruptive perimeter player such as Boston’s Rajon Rondo — ranked second in steals and a capable rebounder — as well? At the halfway point, he is, but not by much.

Coach
Gregg Popovich, Spurs
Team record: 34-6
Rundown: Another entirely subjective award that very often goes to the coach deemed to have spurred his team beyond adversity, and Popovich is the first to acknowledge he has been more fortunate than any coach in the league this season. What he won’t own up to is how impactful he has been, tweaking the offense to optimize unique skills, integrating new players into the lineup and controlling end-of-game situations. Besides, the Spurs have the league’s best record and won’t have a single starter in the All-Star Game.